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Eastern Hognose Snake — printable fact sheet
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Eastern Hognose Snake
Heterodon platirhinos
Heterodon platirhinos is a harmless North American snake with the most elaborate bluff in the reptile world, and it runs it in a fixed sequence. Confronted, it first flattens its neck into a wide hood, hisses loudly and lunges with the mouth firmly closed — an entirely fake stri…
Did you know?
- The hognose snake's upturned snout is an adaptation that helps it dig for its favorite prey, especially burrowing amphibians like toads.
- Hognose snakes are sometimes called puff adders in the United States, which is a genuine source of confusion given the lethal African snake of the same name. The death-feign is stereotyped enough that it will be performed even against a shadow, and a snake may lie "dead" for many minutes before cautiously righting itself and crawling away. Colour is extremely variable, from black to grey to orange and blotched, so pattern is not a reliable identification. They are so committed to the bluff that keepers report almost never being bitten, even by wild-caught animals.
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